Members of the City of Seattle and the Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL) paid a visit to the Dayaax and Gayleer classrooms at Voices of Tomorrow’s Child and Family Center on Thursday, September 14th. Voices of Tomorrow (VOT) co-founders, Iftin Hagimohamed and Zamzam Mohamed, gave them a firsthand look at what the experience is like for the teachers and students enrolled in VOT’s Seattle Preschool Program (SPP).

Mayor Bruce Harrell was joined by Dr. Dwane Chappelle, the director of DEEL, and Leilani Dela Cruz, the director of DEEL’s Early Learning division. They spoke about their desire to highlight the importance of early childhood education and their hope for more dual-language programs.

“What you see here at Voices of Tomorrow is learning, conflict resolution, love, and bicultural and multicultural training opportunities,” Mayor Harrell said. He praised the hard work and compassion of the teachers and staff inside the classrooms.

DEEL is responsible for leadership, coordination, and policy development for early learning programs in partnership with Seattle Public Schools, community organizations like VOT, and other government agencies.

“I want to encourage all families to take advantage and get your young scholars enrolled in a preschool program,” Dr. Chappelle added. He spoke about the benefits of early learning education and how preschools prepare children for success in K-12 classrooms.

Leilani Dela Cruz is the director DEEL’s Early Learning division, which also oversees the City of Seattle’s Child Care Assistance Program.
“We want to highlight the phenomenal work being done here at Voices of Tomorrow,” Cruz said. “Studies do show that dual language programming impacts a child’s educational training and builds cultural understanding, language proficiency, and cognitive skills.”

Among the guest speakers was also a returning parent, Faraah Hassan. Her son had just finished kindergarten and is starting first grade after going through VOT’s dual-language program. Now, her daughter is also enrolled in the preschool program.

“I’m a testament to so many parents who continue to come to VOT and access their services,” Hassan said. She stressed the importance of VOT’s mission to preserve children’s cultural identities.

“I can proudly say that I still speak Somali, I speak Somali to my kids, and it’s very important for them to also not lose their identities in the education system,” she added.

VOT’s executives, Iftin and Zamzam, expressed the need for more support for teachers as well as more investments in mental and behavioral health services. Mayor Harrell and Dr. Chappelle ended their visit with a promise to continue investing in programs for early learners. VOT was very honored to celebrate our start of the 2023-2024 school year by opening our doors to Seattle’s city leaders, and we welcome the opportunity to have them visit us again!